WHITLOWE R. GREEN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Doctoral Proposal Defense Announcement
Casualties of the Flood: A Study of the Psycho-Social Impact of Natural Disasters on
School Membership, School Climate and Resettlement among Displaced Students
May 2016
Donna J. Charlton
B. A., Dillard University
M. A. T., Centenary College
Dissertation Chair: Lisa K. Thompson, Ph.D.
Learning communities that receive students, who relocate to their campuses as the result of
a natural crisis, are seldom aware of the challenges they face at the onset (Fothergill & Peek,
2006; Moore, 2008). After Hurricane Katrina occurred on August 29, 2005, Houston, Texas and
its surrounding communities became the setting of a twenty-first century diaspora. Nearly the
entire Greater New Orleans area was driven from the region as a result of the hurricane’s
unprecedented destruction where “over a million Gulf Coast residents were displaced” (Kulkarni
et al., 2008). Consequently, many displaced Orleans Parish residents settled in other
metropolitan areas throughout the country; it is estimated that over 200,000 evacuees made
Houston their new home (Coker et al., 2006; Hamilton, 2010).
Discord amongst residents, old and new, affected numerous aspects of city life. The
immediate influx of so many displaced people exacerbated the results of a disruptive and
unanticipated population shift from New Orleans to Houston, Texas (Hamilton, 2010).
Differences in race, culture and socio-economic status produced a tremendous and unwelcomed
strain on Houston’s social services and infrastructure (Hamilton, 2010). Violence increased and
domestic conflicts between Houstonians and the New Orleans evacuees became daily front-page
news (Hamilton, 2010; Moreno, 2006). Disagreements between Houstonians and evacuees
occurred in neighborhoods, apartment complexes, parking lots and shopping malls.
Even school communities were unable to avoid conflicts between differing student
groups (Foster, 2007; Guzman, 2005; Tran, 2005; Weber, 2006). The resulting clashes between
student groups were explosive and often resulted in police intervention (Guzman, 2005; Tran,
2005). The Katrina incident, and the subsequent resettlement of evacuee students in the Houston
area, indicated that intentional, prescriptive protocols should have been developed and
implemented by schools that receive displaced students to ease the transition.
This research study will analyze these two constructs and the impact of poverty and race as
they relate to disaster-induced displacement and, ultimately, academic achievement. Based on
the preceding information, the following research questions are proposed for study:
1.
How do geographically displaced students describe school climate as measured by the
School Climate Survey (High School Student Version)?
2.
Do geographically displaced students believe that they receive equitable treatment from
teachers/administrators compared to that of students who are not geographically
displaced?
3.
Is the academic achievement of displaced students affected by their sense of school
membership?
4.
For displaced students, is the perception of the school climate influenced by their sense of
school membership?
The School Climate Survey (High School Student Version) and the Psychological Sense of
School Membership scale will be used to collect student attitudinal data regarding their
individual perceptions of the school climate and their sense of school membership. Both survey
instruments will allow the researcher to measure these constructs quantitatively. Cross sectional
survey design will be used with the sample population of native Houston and resettled high
school students in the Northwest quadrant of Harris County to address the first Research
Questions 1 and 2. Explanatory correlational research will be used to address Research
Questions 3 and 4 to determine the extent to which relationships exist among school
membership, perception of school climate and academic performance.
Date: Friday, May 13, 2006
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Dissertation Chair: Lisa K. Thompson, Ph.D.
Location/Room: Delco Building, Room 220
Committee Members:
Douglas S. Hermond, Ph.D.
Abul Pitre, Ph.D.
Toniesha Taylor, Ph.D.
References
Coker, A. L., Hanks, J. S., Eggleston, K. S., Risser, J., Tee, P. G., Chronister, K. J., … Franzini,
L. (2006). Social and mental health needs assessment of Katrina evacuees. Disaster
Management & Response, 4(3), 88-94. doi: org/10.1016/j.dmr.2006.06.001
Foster, K. M. (2007). Are they Katrina’s kids or ours?: The experience of displaced New Orleans
students in their new schools and communities. Souls, 9(1), 45-52. doi:
10.1080/10999940701225087
Fothergill, A., & Peek, L. (2006). Surviving catastrophe: A study of children in Hurricane
Katrina. In N. H. Center (Ed), Learning from catastrophe: Quick response research in
the wake of Hurricane Katrina (97-129). Boulder, CO: Institute of Behavioural [sic]
Science.
Guzman, M. (2005, December 8). Houston, Louisiana students brawl at school. The Houston
Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.chron.com
Hamilton, R. (2010, August 30). Five years later, Houstonians conflicted about Katrina. The
Texas Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.texastribune.org/
Kulkarni, S., Bell, H., Beausoleil, J., Lein, L., Angel, R. J., & Mason, J. H. (2008). When the
floods of compassion are not enough: A nation's and a city's response to the evacuees of
Hurricane Katrina. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 78(4), 399-425.
doi:10.1080/00377310802378578
Moore, E. C. (2008). Between Logos and Eros: New Orleans' confrontation with modernity
(Masters thesis, University of North Texas). Retrieved from
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc6073/
Moreno, S. (2006, February 6). After welcoming evacuees, Houston handles spike in crime. The
Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/02/05/AR2006020500884_2.html
Tran, M. (2005, September 14). Houston students, evacuees fight; Five held. The Los Angeles
Times. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2005/sep/14/nation/na-fight14
Weber, P. (2006, January 31). Schools still fighting to end tensions between evacuees, local
students. The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved from
http://legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation/katrina/20060131-0005-katrinaschoolfights.html